It is known in the prior art to bury inverted cups in a prearranged array for collecting gases for analyzing ore bodies or reservoirs of hydrocarbon material such as oil or natural gas under a predefined land area. In this regard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,972 to Holub, et al. discloses attaching any number of gas detectors to the inside bottom of plastic drinking cups. The patent discloses various devices for detecting underground minerals such as oil, gas, coal, water and other resources. These cups are buried in the earth at varying depths and left for a period of time for collecting specified gases that migrate from the underground mineral body through the earth and into the respective cups. After collection, the collecting element in each cup is analyzed, such as by conducting a conventional atomic adsorption analysis.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,138 to Felice discloses suspending an alpha-sensitive dosimeter in an inverted cup between the bottom and open end to absorb alpha-radiation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,064,436 to Ward III discloses a radon detector which includes an inverted cup with a detection strip which is sensitive to radon gas and also includes a pervious membrane across the mouth of the cup.
The prior art methods, while being fairly reliable are quite time consuming since it is necessary to bury each of the cups individually; to mark their location; to come back at a subsequent time, such as 30 days, to retrieve the cups; and to analyze the amount of gas collected on a collecting substance in each cup. Thus, many weeks are involved in the process and much labor is required, thereby resulting in substantial cost in evaluating the ore body below a particular land area under investigation.